
Class 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 









1 
I 



MAJOR JOHN GARRETT, 

SLAIN JULY 3. 1778. 



A FORGOTTEN HERO 



MASSACRE OF WYOMING, 



PENNSYLVANIA 



REV. HORACE EDWIN HAYDEN, M. A., 
ii 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY WYOMING HISTORICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 




2A-V&' V 



WII.KKS-BARRE, PENN'a. 
IS 95 . 



Ez^-i 



Copyrighted, 1895, 

BY 

Horace Edwin Hayden. 



E. B. YORDY, PRINTER, 
WILKES-BARRE. 



'i 



THESE PAGES ARE DEDICATED 

TO THE 

MEMORY OF THE LATE 

SHELDON REYNOLDS, Esq., 

PRESIDENT OF 
THE WYOMING HISTORICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 

WILKES-BARRE, PA. 



This sketch of Major John Garrett was prepared 
for publication in Dr. Wm. H. Egle's " Notes and 
Queries," in the Harrisburg Telegraph, where it 
appeared in the issues for October 24 and 28, 1893. 
But as the Telegraph is not generally circulated 
in the Wyoming section where Major Garrett was 
slain (July 3, 1778) ; and many of the facts in this 
sketch, though purely local, are not well known 
there, it is now printed in this form, with much 
original matter never before published. 



) 



MAJOR JOHN GARRETT, 

OF WYOMING VALLEY, 

I775-I77S- 



The Wyoming Monument, that granite witness to the 
patriotic devotion of those Americans who participated in 
the memorable action of July 3, 1778, called the "Massacre 
of Wyoming," has always been accepted as an authority 
beyond question. That monument perpetuates the name 
of Major John Garrett as the second field officer who was 
slain in the Massacre. By some singular mistake the name of 
this gallant officer has been omitted from the list of the slain, 
and that of Major Jonathan Waite Garrett has been sub- 
stituted by every historian of Wyoming Valley since the 
centennial of the Massacre in 1878. It is time to call a halt 
in this continued wrong done to an honored patriot. 

The purpose of this paper is to show that no such person 
as Jonathan Waite Garrett participated in the action of July 
3, 1778, but that the officer who aided Colonel Zebulon 
Butler, in command of the right wing on that day, was 
Major John Garrett. 

The name of Jonathan Waite Garrett does not appear in 
any known account of the events of that terrible day prior 
to the address of the Hon. Steuben Jenkins, delivered at the 
monument July 3, 1878. Mr. Jenkins was justly regarded 
as a careful and accurate historian, especially in matters per- 
taining to the Wyoming Valley. In the address referred to 
(p. 44), he stated that "Colonel Butler, supported by Major 
Jonathan Waite Garrett, assisted by Anderson Dana as ad- 
jutant, commanded the right wing." In the list of the slain, 
as inscribed on the monument (p. 70), he also gives the 
name of Major Jonathan Waite Garrett. 



My attention was called, in 1883, to this unintentional in- 
justice done to Major John Garrett, by my kinsman, the late 
Sidney Hayden, Esq., of Sayre, Pa., the well known Masonic 
historian, who was the great-grand nephew of Major John 
Garrett, but the opportunity to investigate the matter did 
not offer until 1887. Mr. Hayden wrote me: 

"I think the Jonathan Waite Garrett instead of John Gar- 
rett is a mistake, as the name stands in the family record in 
Connecticut as John Garrett. From the rank and position 
he held in the battle of Wyoming I am surprised that no 
more is said of him in Wyoming history. When did he 
come there ? And what are the personal incidents relating 
to him there, except that he served as major in the battle 
and fell among the slain on the 3d of July, 1778? Do the 
historians of Wyoming know anything more about him ?" 

"This Major John Garrett was an uncle of my mother, 
and was born in West Simsbury, now Canton, in Hartford 
county, Connecticut, in 1727, thus making him 51 years old 
at the time he was killed." 

I have made a careful research through the records of 
Luzerne county, and the county of Northumberland, from 
which it was formed in 1787, through the Colonial Records 
of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, but failed to discover any 
trace of such a person as Jonathan Waite Garrett. No 
such name appears in the almost exhaustive roster of Revo- 
lutionary Soldiers, lately published by the State of Connec- 
ticut. 

On the other hand, the official report of the battle and 
Massacre of Wyoming by Colonel Zebulon Butler, dated 
July 10, 1778, states that in the conflict "a lieutenant-col- 
onel, a major and five captains, who were in commission in 
the militia, all fell." As will be seen in this paper the only 
officers who were in commission in the militia, who lost 
their lives July 3, 1778, were Lieutenant-Colonel George 
Dorrance, Major John Garrett, and Captains James Bidlack, 



Rezin Geer, William McKerachan, Lazarus Stewart and 
Asaph Whittlesey. The Wyoming historians, Miner (p. 
242), Pearce (128, 528), Wright (181) and Peck (39, 385), 
invariably record the name of Major John Garrett as that 
of the officer who aided Colonel Butler on the right. 

One exception worthy of notice is Chapman, the earliest 
historian of Wyoming, who, in his "History of Wyoming," 
(p. 175), gives the name as "Wait Garret" his error doubt- 
less arising from the fact that the "Rate Bill" of Hanover 
(for 1777), gives the name of "Wait Garrat" assessed at ,£29, 
and taxes £0: 16: 11. He was probably a son of Major John 
Garrett, as the latter had a grandson Wait Garrett, of New 
London, Conn., who served as a private from August to 
September, 18 13, in the company of Captain (afterwards 
Major General) Moses Hayden, Connecticut Militia, War 
1812. (Conn, in War of 1812, p. 56). Stone in his "His- 
tory of Wyoming," p. 209, follows Chapman and quotes 
from him the list of slain, including "Major Wait Garrett." 

I also addressed a letter of inquiry to the Hon. Steuben 
Jenkins, who kindly sent me the following reply, which fully 
explains the error into which he had fallen : 

"Wyoming, July 14, 1887. 
Dear Sir -.—Chapman, p. 175, gives Major Wait Garret. 
Miner, p. 242, gives Major John Garrett. By mixing these 
memoranda and not eliminating, John Wait Garret is easily 
obtained. That was the manner in which my mistake took 
shape and got into print. Yours, &c, 

S. Jenkins." 

Unfortunately this error has been repeated, apparently 
without any effort to rectify it by examination of the monu- 
ment, by Munsell's "History of Luzerne, Lackawanna and 
Wyoming Counties, Penn'a," 1880, p. 305 ; by the "Wyom- 
ing Memorial Volume," 1882, p. 340 ; and by II. C. Bradsby 
in his "History of Luzerne County," 1893, p. 120, all of 



which works record the name as "Major Jonathan Waite 
Garrett." 

Therefore to rescue the name and fame of Major John 
Garrett from oblivion the results of my research into his 
personal history are here given. 

Major John Garrett, born in West Simsbury, Connec- 
ticut, in 1727, was the oldest son and third child of Francis 
Garrett, and his wife, Sarah (Mills) Tuller, born 1696, died 
1797, in her 101st year. She was the daughter of John 
Mills, of West Simsbury, and the widow of Samuel Tuller, 
whom she married in 171 5. She married 2d, Francis Gar- 
rett in 1722, and after his death in 173 1 she married 3d, 
1745, Captain Joseph Woodford, who was born 1676 and 
died 1/60. The record of her children will appear later. 
Nothing is known of the early life of John Garrett, beyond 
the fact of his marriage and the names of his children. He 
first appears in the annals of Connecticut as an officer in the 
militia in the town of Westmoreland. 

Owing to the many conflicts between Indians and whites, 
Pennamites and Yankees, in that part of Pennsylvania known 
as the town of Westmoreland and claimed by Connecticut 
as a part of her domain, the Connecticut assembly during 
the sessions of May and October, 1775, in response to the 
memorial of Colonel Zebulon Butler and Joseph Sluman, 
erected the town of Westmoreland into a county and created 
the Twenty-fourth regiment of militia for its protection. 
This regiment was to be composed of men taken — rank and 
file — from that section of the county of Litchfield (Force, 
1,860). As a full and accurate list of the companies and 
officers of this regiment has never yet appeared in any his- 
tory of the Wyoming section, it is given here from the Colo- 
nial Records of Connecticut (Vol. XV.) : 

Zebulon Butler, Colonel, appointed May, 1775. 

Nathan Denison, Lieutenant Colonel, appointed May, 1775. 

William Judd, Major, appointed May, 1775. 



The following officers were appointed October, 1775 : 

First Company. — Stephen Fuller, Captain ; John Garrett, 
Lieutenant ; Christopher Avery, Ensign. 

Second Company. — Nathaniel Landon, Captain ; George 
Dorrance, Lieutenant ; Asael Buck, Ensign. 

Third Company. — Samuel Ransom, Captain ; Perin Ross, 
Lieutenant ; Asaph Whittlesey, Ensign. 

Fourth Company. — Solomon Strong, Captain ; Jonathan 
Parker, Lieutenant ; Timothy Keyes, Ensign. 

Fifth Company. — William McKerachan, Captain ; Laza- 
rus Stewart, Junior, Lieutenant ; Silas Gore, Ensign. 

Sixth Company. — Rezin Geer, Captain ; Daniel Gore, 
Lieutenant ; Matthias Hollenbock, Ensign. 

Seventh Company. — Stephen Harding, Captain ; Elisha 
Scovill, Lieutenant ; John Jenkins, Junior, Ensign. 

Eighth Company. — Eliot Farnam, Captain ; John Shaw, 
Lieutenant ; Elijah Winters, Ensign. 

Ninth Company. — James Secord, Captain ; John Dupue, 
Lieutenant ; Rudolph Fox, Ensign.* 

*Personal records of each of the above named officers, except those of the 
fourth, eighth and ninth companies, will be found in the various histories of 
Wyoming. Of Captain Strong and Lieutenant Jonathan Parker I have been 
able to learn nothing after 1774, when Parker was a surveyor of highways. 
Ensign Timothy Keyes was killed at the same time with Mr. Hocksey, at Ab- 
ingdon, six or seven miles north of Liggett's Gap, July 8, 1778 (Miner, 486). 
Eliot Farnam was probably Eliab Varnum, who, with Elijah Winters, moved 
to the Wallenpaupack (Miner, 460). Ensign Rudolph Fox had a very event- 
ful career, of which much can be learned from Bradsby's History of Bradford 
County, 1891, p. 83, et seq. John Shaw was a taxable 1769. Three of the 
Shaw family were killed in the massacre, 1778. Captain James Secord was 
undoubtedly a Tory, probably a son of John of Tioga Point. He went to New 
York State. A very interesting account of his family has been printed by 
Lundy's Lane Historical Society, in a pamphlet, entitled "The Story of Laura 
Secord," 1891. James Secord is supposed to have become one of Butler's 
Rangers. None of the above names appear in the poll list of the town of 
Westmoreland, 1781. 



IO 

It will be noted that there were nine companies in this 
regiment, the officers of which all resided in the town of 
Westmoreland. So far the Wyoming historians have given 
the records only of six companies. Of the officers of these 
companies Butler, Denison, Dorrance, Avery, Fuller, Daniel 
and Silas Gore, Geer, Garrett, McKerachan, Ransom, Ross, 
Stewart, Hollenback and Whittlesey were in the action 
of July 3, 1778. Lieutenant Elisha Scovill was in command 
of Fort Wintermoot when it was surrendered to Colonel 
John Butler. Lieutenant John Jenkins, Junior, was a pris- 
oner, and Captain Stephen Harding was in Fort Jenkins. 
It must not be forgotten that the Twenty-fourth regiment was 
somewhat deranged by the call of Congress in 1776 for the 
two companies from Wyoming Valley commanded by Cap- 
tains Durkee and Ransom. The captains of the regiment after 
the formation of these companies were James Bidlack, Wil- 
liam Hooker Smith, John Garrett, Nathaniel Landon, Asaph 
Whittlesey, William McKerachan, Jeremiah Blanchard, 
Rezin Geer, Stephen Harding, Lazarus Stewart, Robert 
Carr and Eliot Farnam. (Colonial Records, Conn., xv : 43.) 

William Judd, appointed Major, May, 1775 (Col. Rec. 
Conn., xv : 43), was then living in Wyoming Valley, hav- 
ing located there in 1774 or 1775. He was in Farmington 
in 1774. Heitman records him as Major from August to 
October, 1775. He became Captain of the Third Connecti- 
cut Line, January 1, 1777, retired January 1, 1781, and re- 
sided, until his death, in Farmington, Conn. He was one 
of the justices of the peace in the county of Westmoreland, 
appointed by the Assembly of Connecticut, May, 1775, and 
June 1 , 1778. (Miner, 211, Col. Rec. of Conn., xv., 1 1 , 279.) 
Miner gives an account of his arrest and imprisonment in 
Philadelphia jail September 20, 1775 (p. 168), from which 
he was discharged in December, 1775. (Conn. His. Soc. 
Col., ii., 328.) His subsequent history as a friend of the 
Wyoming settlers and members of the Susquehanna com- 



1 1 

pany will be found in Connecticut history, and in Miner, 
380, 412, &c, &c, and Pa. Archives, 2d S., xvm. 

Several interesting facts in this connection seem to have, 
so far, escaped the notice of Wyoming historians. 

The United States Congress, August 26, 1776, immediate- 
ly after appointing the officers for the two Wyoming com- 
panies, "authorized the Select Committee to send to Cap- 
tain Durkee 200 lbs. of powder and a proportionate quantity 
of lead for the use of the two Westmoreland companies, and 
Zebulon Butler, Esq., was appointed to supply these com- 
panies with provisions, and was allowed therefor at the rate 
of 1-12 part of a dollar per ration until further order of 
Congress." 

Congress also, September 10, 1776, "Resolved, That 
$4,000 be sent to Zebulon Butler, Esq., for the use of the 
two companies ordered to be raised in the town of West- 
moreland, he to be accountable for the same, and that the 
money be delivered to and forwarded by the Connecticut 
delegates." 

"Resolved, That Major William Judd be authorized to 
muster the said companies." (Journals of Cong, ii, 329.) 

The mustering in occurred September 17, 1776, and Oc- 
tober, 1776, Congress voted an additional sum of $2,000 to 
be paid to Colonel Zebulon Butler for the use of the com- 
panies {id. 411).* 

Whether Major William Judd resigned his majority in the 
Twenty-fourth Connecticut regiment before October, 1775, is 
not known. His rank as Major was recognized by Congress in 
1776, as we see above. But he was succeeded in the Twenty- 



*The Massacre of Wyoming. — The Acts of Congress for the defense of 
the Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, 1776-1778; with the Petitions of the suf- 
ferers by the Massacre of July 3, 1778, for Congressional aid. With an Intro- 
ductory chapter by Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden, M. A., Corresponding Secre- 
tary Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. (Seal). Printed for the 
Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1895. 



12 

fourth regiment by George Dorrance, appointed Major Octo- 
ber, 1775. In May, 1777, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Denison 
succeeded Zebulon Butler as Colonel of the regiment. Cap- 
tain Lazarus Stewart succeeded Nathan Denison as Lieu- 
tenant Colonel. He resigned in 1777, and was succeeded 
October, 1777, by Major George Dorrance, promoted Lieu- 
tenant Colonel, and Dorrance was succeeded October, 1777, 
by Captain John Garrett, promoted Major. (Conn, in the 
Rev., p. 440; also Heitman's Historical Register of the Con- 
tinental Line; and Colonial Records of Conn.) 

At what date Major John Garrett moved from Connecti- 
cut to Wyoming Valley is not known. His name does not 
occur in any record prior to 1775. Although at that time, 
aged 48, he held no civil office here, nor does he appear to 
have engaged in business, and probably came here in his 
military capacity as lieutenant of the First Company, Twenty- 
fourth regiment. He bought land here in 1775 and 1776, 
as the following deeds show : 

Daniel Downing, of Westmoreland, County of Litchfield, 
Colony of Connecticut, for £12 paid him by "Lieut. John 
Garrit, of said Westmoreland," December 6, 1775, conveyed 
to Garrett lot No. 22, Second division, district of "Wilkes- 
Barre," containing three acres and three quarters of land. 
Deed acknowledged December 29, 1775, before Zebulon 
Butler, justice, and witnessed by Jacob Dyer and Zebulon 
Butler ; not recorded until January 29, 1789, by John Carey, 
administrator of Garrett's estate. 

Darius Spofford, of Westmoreland, for ^"50 paid him by 
John Garrett of same place, September 23, 1776, conveyed 
to Garrett lot No. 21, Third division, district of Wilkes- 
Barre. Witnessed by Jonathan Fitch and Jeremiah Bick- 
ford ; recorded January 29, 1789. John Murphy, of West- 
moreland, for ;£i6o paid by "Major John Garrett," of same 
place, March 20, 1778, conveyed to Garrett lot No. 22, 
Third division "in the town of Wilkes-berry." Witnesses, 



13 

Nathan Denison and J. Baldwin. Recorded January 29, 
1789. (Deed Bk. I, p. 120, 121.) Of this property we will 
hear later on. It is not known that Major Garrett lived 
upon it ; but the deeds show that he resided here from 1775 
to 1778. Of the personal history of Major John Garrett 
during these four years very little is known. Miner names 
him but twice, excepting in the list of slain in the Massacre. 
He does not mention him in his very entertaining appendix 
"The Hazleton Travellers," doubtless because so little was 
known of his history. 

In 1776 Garrett was one of the Road Commissioners of 
the town of Westmoreland, as the following document shows. 
The original is in the possession of the Wyoming Historical 
and Geological Society : 

" These are to warn all the Proprietors of Wilks Barre 
Destrict to meet at the Dwelling house of Solomon John- 
son in said Destrict On the 13th Day of March Instant At 
2:0:Clock Afternoon then to see what the Proprietors will 
Do About Makeing Application to the Town of Westmore- 
land to Establish the Road in this Destrict as Laid Out by 
the Proprietors & to se what the Proprietors will Do About 
Purchasing a Meadow Lot for the Use of Ading it to One 
of the Publick Rights and any Other Business that shall be 
fairly Offered Dated At sd Westmoreland this 7th Day of 
March, 1776 

Elisha Blackman 1 Proprs 
John Garrit / Com." 

Another document preserved by the Society in which 
Major Garrett appears as a witness in a suit between Benja- 
min Shaw, Sr., and Benjamin Shaw, Jr., is as follows : 

" To Major John Garret Lnt Lazerus Stuart Ebenezer 
Hibbard Susanna Inman Meriah O * * * * Asa Ben- 
net Jerimiah Bisford, all of Westmoreland you and Each of 
you are here by Requerd to appear before the Honle 
County Court Now Seting in Westmoreland in and for the 
County of Westmoreland on the 28th Day of November 
Instent at 9, oClock aforenoon then and their to Testify 



What you and Each of you Know Relating to a case then 
to be heard and tryed Where in Benjm Shaw is plant and 
Benjm Shaw Jr is Deft here of fail Not as you Would answer 
your Neglect at the Periel of ye Law in that Case made and 
Provided : to Either of the Constables of the town of West- 
moreland or any Person to serve and Return according to 
law 

Dated at Westmoreland this 27th Day of November 1 777." 

In the "Rate bill of Wilkes-Barre," August, 1776, John 
Garret appears assessed at .£107 14:0, taxed ^3:2 :8: In 1777 
and 1778 he was assessed at ^58, and taxed £2 : 18:0. 

Major Garrett's first appearance in Wyoming history is 
of great interest, and highly creditable to his character as a 
soldier, but it fills one with regret that more cannot be 
learned about him. It was in connection with Colonel 
William Plunkett's invasion of the Valley of the Wyoming, 
December 24, 1775, with a military force of seven hundred 
men, ostensibly to aid the sheriff of Northumberland county 
to serve some civil suits against the Connecticut settlers. 
Miner says, "the cruelty of the contemplated attack was 
sensibly felt, intended, it was not doubted, like that on the 
Muncy settlement, to effectuate the entire expulsion of the 
whole people" of the valley. 

Colonel Zebulon Butler, then acting in his military ca- 
pacity of Colonel of the Twenty-fourth Connecticut militia, 
with a force of about 300 men and boys, indifferently armed, 
made preparation to meet the invaders. 

" Having encamped," says Miner, " with his 300 men on 
the flat near the union of Harvey's Creek with the Susque- 
hanna, he despatched Major John Garrett [then Lieutenant 
Garrett], his second in command, to visit Colonel Plunkett 
with a flag, and desired to know the meaning of his extraor- 
dinary movements, and to demand his intentions in ap- 
proaching Wyoming with so imposing a military array. The 
answer given was that he came peaceably as an attendant 
on Sheriff Cook, who was authorized to arrest several per- 



15 

sons at Wyoming for violating the laws of Pennsylvania, 
and he trusted there would be no opposition to a measure 
so reasonable and pacific." Major Garrett, on his return, 
reported that the enemy outnumbered the Yankees more 
than two to one. " The conflict," said he, " will be a sharp 
one, boys. I for one am ready to die, if need be, for my 
country." (Miner, 173.) 

This patriotic declaration, fit motto to grace his monu- 
ment, found its exposition three years later on the field of 
the Massacre. On that memorable occasion Major John 
Garrett supported Colonel Zebulon Butler, commanding the 
right wing of the American line. The conflict was a sharp 
one, and Garrett fell early in the action during the hot fire 
which Miner says was sustained for half an hour. No sur- 
vivor saw him fall, but none saw him retreat. There were 
not wanting those who could tell how Hewitt and Spafford, 
Bidlack and Whittlesey, Durkee and Whiton, Donahue and 
Shoemaker acted, and bravely met their fate, but the veil of 
silence has hidden from our knowledge how Garrett " died 
for his country." That he did his duty, and fell in the very 
front of the battle, is all that may ever be known. 

" His widow, with many other women and children, es- 
caped the death by which the men had fallen by fleeing, as 
they were instructed, to a raft that lay in the Susquehanna 
river and floating down the stream, but their property was 
all destroyed that could be by the Indians." 

Such was the account of Mrs. Garrett, who, knowing the 
fate of her husband, soon made her way back to Connecticut. 
James A. Gordon, Esq., who recorded his recollections of 
what his mother and other participants in the scenes told 
him, stated that the day after the Massacre "there were four 
rafts, besides some canoes, congregated at Nanticoke and 
full of women and children," who had fled from Plymouth 
and Wilkes-Barre. William Maclay wrote to the Pennsyl- 
vania Council from Paxtang, July 12, 1778 : "I never in my 



i6 

life saw such scenes of distress. The Rivers and the Roads 
leading down it were covered with men, women and children 
flying for their lives, many without any Property at all, and 
none who had not left the greater part behind. * * * 
Something in the way of Charity ought to be done for the 
miserable objects that crowd the Banks of this River, espe- 
cially those who fled from Wioming." (Pa. Arch, vi., 634.) 

Nearly ten years afterwards, John Cary, of Wilkes-Barre, 
was granted by the Court of Luzerne county, Pa., Septem- 
ber 11, 1787, letters of administration on the estate of Major 
John Garrett, deceased, bond ,£500, Nathan Cary and Solo- 
mon Avery, sureties ; Eben Bowman and John Scott, wit- 
nesses. An inventory of the estate was made August 29, 
1788, and the administrator's account rendered May 31, 
1790, but they are both lost. 

In 1788 Cary confirmed the reported destruction of Major 
Garrett's personal property in his application to the court 
for power to sell real estate • 

"To the Honourable the Orphans' Court of the County 
of Luzerne. John Cary, administrator on the estate of John 
Garrett, late of Wilkes-Barre, deceased, Humbly showeth, 
that there is no personal estate of the deceased to be found, 
the same having been lost or destroyed in the general de- 
struction of the settlement in 1778. That the debts exhibit- 
ed against the estate appeared to amount to the sum of one 
hundred and twenty-six pounds, three shillings and four 
pence, one farthing, besides the charges of administration. 
Wherefore your petitioner prays for an order of Court for 
the sale of the whole real estate of said deceased for pay- 
ment of said debts and charges of administration. 

John Cary. 

Wilkes-Barre, Sept. 1, 1788. 
The Court authorized the sale on the same day. It was 
advertised to take place October 7th, 1788, at the house of 
Abel Yarrington, in Wilkes-Barre, but the property was not 
conveyed until June 15th, 1790, when Cary deeded lots 21 
and 22 to George Frey, of Middletown, Dauphin county 



17 

Pa., for £\ 13. The land is described in Cary's deed as two 
lots in Wilkes-Barre, called back lots, or lots in the Third 
division, No. 21, being bounded on the southwest on the line 
of Hanover township, 1,414 perches, northwest on the road 
laid out through Wilkes-Barre township to Hanover town- 
ship line, being a straight continuance of the main street of 
the town of Wilkes-Barre, 33 and 4-10 perches; northeast 
on said lot to No. 22 by a straight line 1,404 and 4-10 per- 
ches, and southeast on vacant land over the mountain at 
right angles with the side line 31 and 8-10 rods, containing 
280 acres and 1 1 perches ; No. 22, adjoining No. 21 , contain- 
ing 278 acres and 26 perches, as per survey made by Wil- 
liam Montgomery, jr., in 1787. (Book 1, p. 278.) This pro- 
perty lies at the extreme end of South Wilkes-Barre, begin- 
ning on the east side of Main street, opposite No. 601, the 
residence of Rev. Mr. Hayden, and extends to Bear Creek 
township line, covering only the Spofford and Murphy tracts. 
The remaining lot sold October 7, 1788, to Solomon John- 
son, of Wilkes-Barre, yeoman, was lot No. 22, town of 
Wilkes-Barre, containing 3 acres and 99 perches, bounded 
southeast by Main street and northeast by Union street. It 
extended from the west side of Main street to the centre of 
Franklin street, and from Union street southward 333 feet. 
Recorded May 17, 1796. (Book 4, p. 252.) 

Major Garrett had a claim of some kind on another lot in 
Wilkes-Barre, as Arnold Colt, of Wilkes-Barre, for .£10 re- 
ceived April 15, 1788, of Mills Garrett and the rest of heirs 
of John Garrett, late of Wilkes-Barre, deceased, conveyed 
to them one-half of lot No. 4, Third division. This lot lay 
in what is now Plains township. 

November 23, 1792, John Garrett and Francis Garrett, of 
Southbury, Litchfield county, Conn., heirs of John Garrett, 
deceased, conveyed to Arnold Colt, of Wilkes-Barre, for 
£15, one-half a back lot No. 4, Third division, Wilkes-Barre 
township, being part of the right of land of which Harris 



Colt was an original proprietor, and which Arnold Colt 
deeded to Mills Garrett and the rest of the heirs of John 
Garrett, deceased. On the same day John Garrett, of South- 
bury, Conn , and Jeremiah Spencer, of Windsor, Conn., sold 
Benjamin Cary, Hanover township, Luzerne county, for £2$, 
all their right in lot No. 26, Hanover township, which Caleb 
Spencer deeded to James Spencer. (Bk. 1.28, 2.142, 170.) 
For this lot see map in Plumb's Hanover township, p. 172. 
June 7, 1794, John Garrett and Esther Garrett gave a re- 
ceipt to Jeremiah Spencer in full of all demands for lands 
belonging to Esther Garrett lying in the Susquehanna. 
(Pa. Arch., s. 2, vol. xvni., 520.) This Esther was the wife 
of John the son of Major John Garrett. With these sales 
the names of Major John Garrett and his family disappear 
from Wyoming Valley. Hon. H. B. Plumb wrote me, De- 
cember 28, 1893 : 

" I do not think young John Garret or any Garret ever lived in 
Hanover. The lot you mention, No. 26, 3d Division, sold to Benja- 
min Cary, never had a house on it. Benjamin Cary's house was on 
No. 25, and stands there yet, opposite the road that crosses from the 
Middle road to the upper end of Hanover Green on the River road. 

The lot No. 21, Wilkes-Barre, opposite which you live, sold as the 
property of Major John Garret, 1790, had a small log house standing 
within my recollection, on the high bank of the creek close to the high 
bank at the road side there across the street from you. It seems to 
me it was not more than twelve feet square, but it was two stories 
high. When my mother was a little girl, say in 1814 or 1815, an 
Englishman named William Askam, a tailor by trade, but a peddler 
by nature, lived there. You may have heard the story of his wife 
sending him out for an armfull of wood to heat the oven to bake ; that 
he went after the wood, but also went peddling before he came back, 
and was gone, people say, seven years and three months — he said 
seven months and three days. When he came back the wood he had 
picked up along the fence, between that little house on that high bank 
and what is now Blackman street, I think, near the Vulcan Works, 
he took in his arms and carried home and threw down by the oven 
and told his wife, "There is the wood I went after." That little house 
was an old house then. Could that have been the house John Garret 



19 

lived in, or was it built after 1790? There was a large house further 
on, probably on No. 22, that belonged to Gen. William Ross in my 
earliest recollection ; that must have been about as old, if not older, 
than this little house, and I think belonged to the same owner. It is 
very likely that somewhat there Major John Garret's house stood, as 
his son was in the Lower and not the Upper Wilkes-Barre company. 
The lower Wilkes-Barre company, in my History of Hanover, p. 
107, was not composed of Hanover men. I only put it in my book 
because nobody had ever shown a list of the men in any Wilkes-Barre 
company, and I considered it worth knowing." 

There were others of the name of Garrett in the town of 
Westmoreland in 1776 and 1777, as Titus Garrett, aged 34 
[born 1742], 5 feet 10 inches high, was a private soldier in 
Captain Robert Durkee's company, 1776, and in Captain 
Simon Spaulding's company, January 1, 1777; discharged 
September 19, 1778; residence Westmoreland. Elisha Gar- 
rett, aged 36 [born 1740], 5 feet 11 inches high, was also a 
private in both companies ; residence Westmoreland. He 
was transferred to Durkee's regiment and continued in ser- 
vice until 1783. (Conn, in the Revolution, p. 263-266.) 
He was killed by Patterson's men in 1784. (Wright 122.) 
John Garrett appears on the Wyoming monument among 
the privates who survived the Massacre. This was the 
eldest son of Major John Garrett, who was a resident of 
Wilkes-Barre, and a private in the Lower Wilkes-Barre 
company. The names of Elisha and Titus Garrett do not 
appear in the records of Luzerne county. "None of the 
above ever asked for or received a pension for Revolutionary 
services. A John Garrett, private in the Conn. Line, living 
in 1818, in Oneida county, N. Y., aged 90 in 1834, received 
a pension, but I cannot identify him with the Simsbury 
family. 



20 



GENEALOGY. 



I. FRANCIS GARRETT, said to have been a French- 
man, came to Canton, Conn., and m. circa, 1722, Sarah 
(Mills) TuLLER,b. 1696^. 1797, in her 101st year. She was 
the daughter of John and Sarah (Pettibone) Mills, of West 
Simsbury. John Mills, b. Jan. 2, 1669, d. March 11, 1698, 
was the sop of Simon and Mary (Buell) Mills, of Windsor, 
probably son of Simon Mills, who owned land in W. 1653. 
(See Stiles' Windsor, ii. 500.) Mrs. Garrett was the widow 
of Samuel Tuller (pro. son of John, of Simsbury, 1690), 
whom she had m. about 17 15. Her husband, Francis Gar- 
rett, d. 173 1. She m. thirdly, in 1745, Captain Joseph 
Woodford, b. 1676, d. 1760, son of Joseph and Rebecca 
(Navell) Woodford, the son of Thomas, of Hartford, 1650, 
and Northampton, Mass., 1654- 1667. After Captain Wood- 
ford's death, his widow lived with his son William, who had 
m. her daughter Susanna. Sarah had no children by her 
third marriage. By her first and second marriages she had 
eight, viz : 

Children by first marriage (Tuller) : 
i. Samuel. 
ii. James. 
-f iii. Isaac, b. 1720; d. 1806. 

Second marriage (Garrett) : 

-f- iv. Sarah, b. 1723; d. 1821. 
+ v. Susanna, b. 1725; d. 1806. 
-+- vi. John, b. 1727 ; d. July 3, 1778. 
+ vii. Francis, b. 1729; d. — \y^" 

-\- viii. Anna, b. 1731 ; d. — ; pro. m. Justus Hicock, Oneonta, 
N. Y. 

III. LIEUTENANT ISAAC TULLER, b. 1720; d. 
1806, aged 86; m. 1746, Phebe Case, b. May 16, 1729; d. 
1779; daughter of James and Esther (Fithian) Case, and 
sister of Mrs. Francis Garrett. He moved to West Sims- 



21 

bury in 1749, and resided on the place afterwards occupied 
by his son Rufus. 

Children : 

i. Phcebe, b. 1747 ; d. 1776 ; m. James Case, son of Josiah. 
ii. Isaac, Jr., b. 1749; d. 1776, in army at Bergen, N.J. 
iii. Deliverance, b. 175 1 ; d. 1805 ; m. Isaac Wilcox, private 

Capt. Z. Case's company, 18th Reg. Conn. Mil., 1776. 
iv. Ruth, b. 1755; d. 1818; m. Capt. Frederick Humphreys, 
Canton, Conn., and had Ruth, who m. 1804, Luke Hay- 
den, of Barkhamstead (Augustin, Samuel, Samuel, Dan- 
iel, William) ; b. August 30, 1773 . d. March, 1854; had 
Sidney Hayden, Esq., of Sayre, Pa., author of " Wash- 
ington and his Masonic Compeers," 12 mo. 1866. Capt. 
Frederick Humphreys was son of Capt. Ezekiel, of Sam- 
uel, of Michael and Priscilla (Grant) Humphreys, 
v. Esther, b. 1757; d. 1851 ; m. Elijah Hill, private Capt. 

Z. Case's company, 1776. 
vi. Lois, b. 1759; d. 1797 ; m. James Lawrence, 
vii. Sarah, b. 1761 ; d. 1812 ; m. Ozias Northway, private 

Capt. Hooker's company, Conn. State Mil., 1776. 
viii. Aseneth, b. 1763; d. 181 5; m. Jonathan Mersell, pro. 
private Capt. Gillet's company, Col. Eno's Regt., 1778. 
ix. Amasa, b. 1765; d. 1792; m. Sylvia Case. 
x. Rufus, b. 1767 ; alive in 1856; m. Matilda Case, 
xi. Chloe, b. 1770; d. 1845; m - Timothy Caldwell. 

IV. SARAH GARRETT, b. 1723; d. i82i,aged98; 
m. 1743-4, Oliver Humphrey, b. 1720; d. 1792, aged 72; 
son of Jonathan, and grandson of Samuel, son of Michael. 
He was the first magistrate in West Simsbury, where he 
located 1742. He was Justice 1 769-1 792, and Deputy to 
the General Court 1 766-1 770. 

Children (Humphrey) : 

i. Sarah, b. 1744; d. 1795; m. (I.) Abraham Case, Jr., b. 
March 18, 1743; d. April 10, 1776; son of Abraham and 
Rachel Case. (Goodwin's Notes, 292). He was in the 
Lexington Alarm party from New Hartford, Conn., 1775 ; 
Corporal Capt. Abel Pettebone's Co. Second Reg., 1775. 
She m. (II.) Rev. Abraham Fowler, pro. Yale, A.B. 1775 I 
A. M. 1778; d. 1815. 



22 

ii. Lois, b. 1746; d. 1800; m. Bildad Barber, of Capt. John 
Brown's Co. Eighteenth Conn. Militia, 1776. 

iii. Ruth, b. 1748; d. 1822; m. Lieut. Gideon Mills, of the 
Lexington Alarm party, 1775 ; Serj., Capt. A. Pettebone's 
Co., May 4, to Oct. 31, 1775 ; Lieut, in Col. Beebe's Reg., 
Feb. 18, 1777; Capt. Hinkley's Co., Col. Well's Reg. 

iv. Oliver, Jr., b. 1750; d. 1776, in the Army. In Lexing- 
ton Alarm party, 1775 ; Capt. Abel Pettebone's Co., May 
4, to Dec. 18, 1775; Capt. Benj. Mills' Co. as Corporal, 
Sept. 13, to Oct. 13, 1776. 
v. Erastus, b. 1752; d. 1776. 

vi. Reuben, b. 1754; d. 1830; m. Anna Humphrey. Reuben 
Humphrey was mem. Assembly, 1789, 1791, 1793. 

vii. Rachel, b. 1756; d. 1831 ; m. George Humphrey ; Lex- 
ington Alarm party, 1795; Fifer Capt. A. Pettebone's Co., 
May 5, to Dec. 18, 1775, and Capt. Z. Case's Co., 1776. 
viii. Asher, b. 1758; d. 1828; m. Chloe Humphrey; private 
Capt. A. Pettebone's Co., March 26, to May 5, 1777. 

ix. Mercy, b. 1 76 1 ; d. 1826; m. 1786, Rev. Jeremiah Hal- 
lock, pro. he who received Hon. A. M., Yale, 1788; d. 
1826. He was father of Hon. Jeremiah Hallock, judge 
Ohio Circuit Court. 
x. Esther, b. 1763; d. 1808 ; m. Eben Alford, b. 1761 ; Ar- 
tificer Continental Line, and pensioner 1834, aged 73. 
xi. Lavinia, b. 1765; d. 1848; m. Thomas Bidwell, Jr., son 
of Capt. Thomas Bidwell, 1778; and b. 1764; d. 1848. 
(Bidwell Gen., 85). 

V. SUSANNA GARRETT, b. 1725 ; d. 1806 ; m. circa 
1750, William Woodford, b. 1722; d. 1803; son of Capt. 
Joseph Woodford by his first wife. 
Children (Woodford) : 

i. Rufus, b. 1754; d. 1760. 

ii. Ruth, b. 1756; m.Uzziah Dyer, of Thomas, of Benjamin, 
iii. Francis, b. 1759. 
iv. Rufus, b. 1762; d. 1831 ; m. (I.) Chloe Hills, d. 1794; m. 

(II.) MaryTuller; (III.) Charlotte (Alford) Moses. 
v. Theas, b. 1764; d. 1838; m. Myriam Case; b. 1766; d. 

Dec. 17, 1847; dau. of Isaac Case (Goodwin 291). 
vi. James, b. 1767; m. Apphia Hill; b. 1764; d. 1839. 
vii. Theodore, b. 1769. 
viii. Ruth, b. 1772 ; m. Thomas Dyer, Jr. 



23 

VI. MAJOR JOHN GARRETT, b. 1727; slain July 
3, 1778. 

Children : 

i. Wait, b. — ; probably the eldest son, a taxable, Wyoming 
Valley, 1775-7. Nothing known of him beyond the 
record already given, except that his son Amasa, b. 1778, 
d. Southbury, Conn., June 1, 1792, aged 14; and another 
child d. March 25, 1781. 

ii. Mills, b. — . Nothing known of him beyond the record 
already given. 

iii. John, b. — ; m. (I.) Southbury, Oct. 21, 1778, Esther Spen- 
cer, possibly she who was b. Bolton, Dec. 7, 1754, sister 
of Josiah Spencer, slain at Wyoming, July 3, 1778. He 
pro. m. (II.) Mary Case; b. Feb. 25, 1756; d. 1832; 
dau. of Daniel and Mary (Watson) Case, of Daniel, 
John, John (Goodwin 279). They lived in Southbury, 
Conn. John Garrett was a survivor of the Massacre of 
Wyoming. He was also private Capt. Abel Pettibone's 
company, March 26 to May 5, 1777. Child. (I ) mar. b. 
Southbury. i. Polly, b. Dec. 10, 1779. ii. Rachel, b. 
Dec. 25, 1781. iii. James, b. Mar. 1, 1785. iv. Elisha, 
b. Mar. 31, 1787. v. Nancy, b. Nov. 2, 1789. vi. Esther, 
b. June 30, 1792. vii. Spencer, b. Feb. 14, 1795. viii. 
Amasa, b. Aug. 27, 1797. (Cothren's Woodbury, Conn., 
434)- 

iv. Francis, b. — ; m. Feb. 21, 1781, Annis Hicock ; bap. 
Oct. 31, 1756, dau. of Justus and Lois (Lum) Hicock, of 
Benj. of Samuel. (Cothren, 566). Lived in Southbury, 
Conn. Child. — i. Esther, ii. Josiah. iii. Wait, in War of 
1812. Francis served in Capt. Z. Case's company, Aug. 
19 to Sept. 12, 1776; also April 12 to May 27, 1777, and 
in Capt. A. Mills' company, 1778, Col. Eno's Regt. 

VII. FRANCIS GARRETT, b. 1729; d. of consump- 
tion; m. 1753, Ruth Case, b. 1732, dau. of Capt. James 
and Esther (Fithian) Case, Ferry's Plain, Simsbury (Wil- 
liam, John). Mr. Garrett moved to W. Simsbury 1746. 
His widow, Ruth, m. (II.) Gideon Case. 



24 

VIII. ANNA GARRETT, b. 1731 ; m. (I.) 1747, Sam- 
uel or James Northaway ; (II.) John Phelps. 

Children (Northaway) : 

i. Anna, b. November, 1747; d. 1 8 1 5 ; m. Benjamin Dyer, 
of Benjamin, who was a schoolmate ofTBenjamin Frank- 
lin in Boston, whence he" removed to W. Simsbury 
1740-1. 
ii. Sarah, b. 1748; d. 1819; m. Daniel Dyer, of Benjamin. 

There appear also in the Record of Revolutionary Ser- 
vice of Connecticut, these : 

Amasa Garrett, Sergeant Col. Charles Webb's Regt, 
Nineteenth Continental, killed battle of White Plains, Oct. 
26, 1776. 

Samuel Garret, private, July 1, 1780 to Dec. 15, 1780, 
First Regt. "Connecticut Line." 

John Garret, private First Co., Fourth Regt., 1775; dis- 
charged in Northern Department Sept. 21, 1775. This may 
have been John of Branford, private Capt. Barker's company, 
Sixth Regt. Conn. Line, March 8, 1777; enlisted for the war. 
Another John was private Fourth Regt. Jan. 1, 1781 to Dec. 
31, 1781. 

In Cothren's Woodbury will be found the following Gar- 
rett records : 

Betty, d. South Britain, Aug. 4, 1773. Sarah, m. S. B. 
January 24, 1782, David Allen. Julia, m. Feb. 3, 1800, 
Chauncey Hatch. Rachel, m. Nov. 10, 1795, L.Osborne. 
Polly, m. Nov. 2, 1803, Simeon Towner. Rachel, m. 
June 19, 1803, Nehemiah Strong. Caroline, m. Jan. 1, 
1807, Charles Noarring. 



MAJOR JOHN GARRETT, 

SLAIN JULY 3. 1778. 



A FORGOTTEN HERO 



MASSACRE OF WYOMING, 

PENNSYLVANIA . 



REV. HORACE EDWIN HAYDEN, M. A., 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY WYOMING HISTORICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



WILKES-BARRE, PENN'A. 
I8 95 . 



%£ 




